Risala fi Ithbat al-Istiwa wa al-Fawqiyya wa Masalat al-Harf wa al-Sawt fi al-Quran al-Majid
- Author died
- 438 AH
- Editions
- Dar Tuwayq lil-Nashr wa-al-Tawzi'
Risala fi Ithbat al-Istiwa wa al-Fawqiyya wa Masalat al-Harf wa al-Sawt fi al-Quran al-Majid (Treatise on Affirming Istiwa, Aboveness, and the Issue of Letter and Sound in the Glorious Qur'an) is a concise theological epistle written by the Shafi'i jurist and scholar Abu Muhammad Abd Allah ibn Yusuf al-Juwayni (d. 438 AH / 1046–1047 CE) . It articulates his theological stance on the divine attributes, specifically divine loftiness (al-fawqiyya), the ascension over the Throne (al-istiwa), and the nature of the divine speech (kalam) comprising letters and sound .
Background and Purpose
The author, who was the father of Imam al-Haramayn Abu al-Ma'ali al-Juwayni, composed the work as a fraternal counsel (nasiha) directed to his brethren in faith . In the opening sections, he relates his personal journey through a period of intellectual perplexity (hayrah) regarding three primary theological disputes: the divine attributes in general, the attribute of divine aboveness (al-fawqiyya), and the issue of letters and sound in the Qur'an .
Al-Juwayni notes that he was originally apprehensive about affirming divine aboveness, istiwa, and descending (al-nuzul) out of fear of spatial confinement (al-hasr) and anthropomorphism (al-tashbih) . He describes feeling conflicted between the explicit literal designations of the Qur'an and prophetic sunnah and the metaphorical interpretations (ta'wil) advanced by his teachers among the Ash'ari Shafi'i scholastic theologians (mutakallimun)—such as interpreting istiwa as dominance (istila'), nuzul as the descent of divine command, hands as divine powers or favors, and divine speech as an internal meaning devoid of letters or sound . Finding that his heart found no comfort in these metaphorical interpretations, he recorded this treatise to declare his adoption of the method of the early generations (al-salaf) .
Core Themes and Methodology
The work—also known by the extended title Risala fi Ithbat al-Istiwa wa al-Fawqiyya wa Masalat al-Harf wa al-Sawt fi al-Quran al-Majid, wa Tanzih al-Bari an al-Hasr wa al-Tamthil wa al-Kayfiyya—is a short tract of around fifteen pages . Its central methodology rests on affirming the reality of the divine attributes mentioned in the scriptural texts without resorting to figurative interpretation (ta'wil), functional negation (ta'til), or anthropomorphic comparison (tamthil and tashbih) .
Al-Juwayni argues that the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ addressed audience members of all capacities—the learned, the unlettered, and bedouins—using these explicit textual descriptions of God without cautioning them against taking their outward reality or giving hidden esoteric meanings . He also engages dialectical reasoning against proponents of ta'wil, arguing that if affirming istiwa, the hand, or the face were considered anthropomorphism, the same objection would equally apply to affirming divine attributes like life, hearing, seeing, and knowledge . Additionally, he maintains that God is distinct from His creation (ba'in min khalqihi), transcending containment and physical limits while being over His Throne .
Reception and Publication
The treatise was incorporated and transmitted within theological compilations; scholar Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Wasiti included the text within his own work al-Nasiha fi Sifat al-Rabb Jalla wa-'Ala .
The work has been printed in the first volume of the compendium Majmu'at al-Rasa'il al-Muniriyya . It was also published as an independent monograph edited by Ahmad Mu'adh ibn Alwan Haqqi, issued by Dar Tuwayq in Riyadh in 1419 AH / 1998 CE .
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